16.2 million watch Kentucky Derby on NBC

by jmaloni

Press release

Tue, May 7th 2013 08:10 pm

Second
most-watched Kentucky Derby since 1989

NBC
Sports' coverage of Saturday's Kentucky Derby drew 16.2 million
viewers, making it the second most-watched Kentucky Derby since 1989.
The viewership for the race is up 9 percent from last year's Derby
(14.8 million), and up 12 percent from the Derby in 2011 (14.5
million), according to official national data provided today by The
Nielsen Company.

Utilizing
NBC Sports' "Big Event Strategy," three of the past five
Kentucky Derby races have recorded at least 16 million viewers.

Saturday's
race (6:05-6:53 p.m. ET), won by Orb, is the second most-watched
Kentucky Derby dating back to 1989 (18.5 million on ABC), only
surpassed by the 2010 Derby won by Super Saver (16.5 million).

The
household rating of 9.7/21 is the best since 2010 (9.8/23), and tied
2009 as the second highest-rated Derby since 1992 (10.3/30 on ABC).

The
9.7/21 rating is up 8 percent from last year's race (9.0/20) and
up 14 percent from 2011 (8.5/19).

The
pre-race on NBC (5-6:05 p.m. ET) drew 9.1 million viewers, an
increase of 12 percent from last year (8.1 million), and is the
second-best pre-race viewership dating back to 1992.

NBC
Sports' coverage of the Kentucky Derby over the past 13 races has
averaged more than 2 million more viewers than the previous 12
Kentucky Derby broadcasts on ABC (14.3 million vs.12.0 million, up 19
percent). NBC's average viewership of 14.3 million over the past 13
Kentucky Derby broadcasts is more than 6 million more than the last
six years that ABC aired the Derby (1995-2000).

The
Kentucky Derby once again proved to be very popular with female
viewers. In fact, 52 percent of Derby viewers were women, making it
the only annual sporting event that draws more female viewers than
male viewers.